This ‘bad’ guy has the looks of an angel

Back then, you knew the bad guys the minute you saw them. Max Alvarado’s snarl, omnipresent moustache, and thick, bushy eyebrows that always knitted into a frown said only one thing: don’t trust this guy with your life.

But these days, it’s a lot harder. Remember Edu Manzano, who’d smile at the good guy while peering at him through half-lowered eyelids? No one would suspect he had something up his sleeve. Fast forward to more recent times. Emilio Garcia – handsome, clean-cut, well-built enough to look like a matinee idol – is plotting vengeance. He doesn’t show it, nor does he look it, at first.

He makes friends with everybody, even goes out with the good guy. Then something snaps, and wham! Next thing you know, the nice Emilio is no more. In his hands is the long barrel of a gun, pointing at the good guy’s skull, or threatening to decimate a whole battalion of soldiers.

The image of the villain has changed a lot through the years. And Emilio Garcia, veteran of some 30 movies (he started his career in 1995) is a fine example.

Emilio loves the challenges of doing a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on screen. A veteran villain to such stars as Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Robin Padilla, Ace Vergel and Victor Neri, Emilio can shift from suave to deadly in a flick of an eye.

In Maverick Films’ Manila Filmfest. Diskarte, Emilio is at it again. He plays Rudy Fernandez’s nemesis, an ex-marine who acts like one of the boys at first. Then, his true colors emerge, and he cocks the barrel of his rifle at his fellow ex-marine, Rudy.

The sudden character shift excites Emilio, who is happy at how the various scenes in this second starrer with Rudy (the first was in Birador in 1999) tested his acting mettle.

"My highlight scene," he reveals, "showed me surprising everybody when I massacred them all in one explosive moment."

The reason why Emilio, and other villains at that, shine, is the lead actor himself. Thanks to lead actors willing to play underdog, Emilio can show his stuff – his meanness, that is – to the hilt.

Years of acting nasty have made life at once good and a bit risky for Emilio. Sure, it has landed him a regular role – that of Carlos Agassi and Matet’s father in Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan. But it has also given some headaches. Emilio once found deep scratches on his parked car: a sure sign that somebody somewhere was miffed at his displays of temper and nastiness on the small and big screen.

"It couldn’t be accidental," Emilio muses. "The scratches were not superficial, they were done on purpose."

Inwardly, he could only grin at this left-handed tribute to his skill in making life miserable for his co-stars.

Emilio admits playing evil incarnate the whole day long (tapings, shootings could take that long) does sometimes take its toll.

"I can still stay in character after the lights have gone out and I’m resting at home," he rues. But there’s nothing a little discipline and training can’t do.

This fan of Eddie Garcia and Al Pacino observes stark differences in the way screen villains like him maneuver their way around. In Hollywood, Emilio points out, the motivation is sheer power or greed, like The Green Goblin – his high-tech gadgets all around him, harassing Spider-Man to the very end.

Not so in Filipino movies. Here, the character turns bad because of money and the need to seek vengeance for his family.

The money part is understandable: poverty still dogs most Filipinos these days. As for family, Emilio notes that viewers seem more sympathetic to the guy who will risk his own life and reputation to avenge say, a wronged parent or child.

It’s the close-knit family ties in the country at work here.

The 30-year-old Emilio may be as busy as ever, making one film after another.

But he knows showbiz is not forever. After his contract with Tapa King ends this year (he closed shop almost a year ago), Emilio is thinking of starting another venture, also on food. His target: last quarter of this year or early 2003. It’s hard to put a time frame in (show) business," he admits. So it’s always wise to think of other options.

Suffice it to say that Emilio’s seven-year stay in the business has outlasted many others, some of them former sexy actors like him who decided to shift to character roles in action movies.

His secrets?

"Professionalism is one. I go to the set with the script and my character pretty clear in my head. Then there’s the all-important ability to get along with others on the set. Finally, I don’t just sit around waiting for a role. I make follow up calls to production companies who may want me for their projects," says Emilio.

Spoken like a true veteran of 30 films, with a best actor nomination (for Mananayaw in the Metro Manila Filmfest) to his name at that.